Income Taxes - Reconciliations of Income Tax Rates and Actual Tax Charge (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Effective Income Tax Rate Reconciliation, Amount [Abstract]
Net income (loss) before income taxes	$ 134,175	$ 38,352	$ (325,522)
Net loss not subject to taxes	(80,454)tk_NetIncomeLossNotSubjectToTaxes	(267,665)tk_NetIncomeLossNotSubjectToTaxes	(129,307)tk_NetIncomeLossNotSubjectToTaxes
Net (loss) income subject to taxes	214,629tk_NetIncomeLossSubjectToTaxes	306,017tk_NetIncomeLossSubjectToTaxes	(196,215)tk_NetIncomeLossSubjectToTaxes
At applicable statutory tax rates	39,382	12,719	(15,808)
Permanent and currency differences, adjustments to valuation allowances and uncertain tax positions	(28,027)	(8,173)	(2,817)
Other	(1,182)	(1,674)	4,219
Tax expense (recovery) related to the current year	$ 10,173us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	$ 2,872us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	$ (14,406)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit

Net Income Loss Not Subject To Taxes

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Net Income Loss Subject To Taxes

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This element represents the income or loss from continuing operations attributable to the economic entity which may also be defined as revenue less expenses from ongoing operations, after income or loss from equity method investments, but before income taxes, extraordinary items, and noncontrolling interest.

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Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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Amount of the difference between reported income tax expense (benefit) and expected income tax expense (benefit) computed by applying the domestic federal statutory income tax rates to pretax income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to increase (decrease) in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets.

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The amount of income tax expense or benefit for the period computed by applying the domestic federal statutory tax rates to pretax income from continuing operations.

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